Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER February 6, 2017 14 FEATURES PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Helping introverts to break through Thoughtful, introspective leadership can help in disruptive economic environment By Bernadette Smith I n a world where we have traditionally revered char- ismatic extroverted leaders, society has been conditioned to believe this "type" of person is the best style to lead organi- zations today. is is not always true. A more thoughtful and introspec- tive leadership style can create conditions that enable an orga- nization to thrive in a disruptive economic environment. It's time to think differently about enabling hidden introverted talent to break through at an organization. Introverts in the workplace have been misunderstood and of- ten overlooked for promotion in favour of their more "vocal" col- leagues, even though they have proven to be equally as compe- tent and effective. Their quiet temperament may be interpreted as aloof, antisocial and passive. In fact, an introvert's brain is wired to be stimulated by the internal processing of information to sup- port learning, problem-solving and planning. So, while others are talking, they're processing their thoughts, connecting the dots and moving toward a productive solution. It's important to recognize the unique strengths introverts bring, and appreciate that they make a significant contribution to an organization, and their leader- ship style may actually deliver over and above their extroverted counterparts. Here's a rundown of the strengths of introverted leaders, and how they can have a positive impact in the workplace: oughtful communicators: ey "think first and talk later," delivering on-point, key messages with substance and credibility. Excellent listeners: ey learn by listening attentively to others. Quiet contemplation enables them to hear things and create valuable insights that they can put into action, while motivating employees by valuing their input. Deep thinkers: ey patiently explore and analyze issues with deep introspection and have an innate ability to create unique so- lutions to complex problems. Embrace solitude: They re- energize by spending time alone and focusing on personal pursuits or reflecting on work-related is- sues. Quiet time enables their best thinking and improves their creativity, problem-solving and quality of communications. Calm temperament: A calm and confident demeanour in times of crisis provides reassur- ance and hope to employees. Make deep connections: A "less is more" approach enables meaningful relationships with a select group of respected people. Employers need to coach and enable introverts with deep think- ing, problem-solving strengths to flex their style by using strategic displays of extroversion when it matters most. In the right com- bination, this would be an ideal style to tackle today's leadership challenges. ese are four strategies that will help introverted profession- als to break through in the work environment: Improve visibility and gain recognition: is should be done for themselves and their teams. Introverts don't typically seek out the spotlight or promote them- selves as others would, so their accomplishments may go unno- ticed. Employers need to support them in developing their personal brand so they show up power- fully both inside and outside their organization. Introverts have plenty of per- sonal power based on their expert knowledge, but need to strength- en their presence so people take notice. With advanced prepara- tion or practice, they can learn to feel more comfortable speaking up in social settings and in meet- ings. For example, when attending industry or networking events, having a well-prepared "elevator pitch" and pre-planned small-talk topics will help alleviate feelings of awkwardness in these situations. Similarly, in meetings, it might be tough to put forward ideas on the spot without sufficient time for thoughtful consideration. Careful preparation in advance of a meeting will enable ideas to be presented in the moment. Be- ing prepared in social settings will help them boost their confidence in expressing ideas and go a long way in improving presence with key colleagues as well. Communicate powerfully: This is key to getting noticed. e three "Vs" of communication strategy can be used to engage all modes of communication: vi- sual, vocal and verbal. e impact of non-verbal communication should not be under-estimated. "Visual" relates to gestures, facial expressions, and even environ- ment-specific behaviours such as a person's sitting position around a boardroom table. Simply put, posture, direct eye contact and a relaxed appearance can dem- onstrate a level of interest and engagement in the topic being discussed. Vocal elements, such as vol- ume, pace and a succinct delivery of the message, contribute to im- proving the impact of the actual content (verbal) that is being de- livered. Layer in a little emotion or passion in the delivery and the audience will be hooked for sure. Build relationships: Building rapport with direct reports or key stakeholders in the workplace will increase understanding of each other's styles and identify ways to work better together. Identifi- cation is a technique that can be used to intentionally gather in- formation about another person, by sharing experiences or asking questions, that allows individu- als to connect on similarities that they both have in interests, opin- ions or practices. Another strategy that can be used is mirroring where an indi- vidual matches his interactional style to the person he's commu- nicating with. Words and actions should be similar or complimen- tary to theirs in terms of vocabu- lary, sentence structure, body lan- guage or tone. Social talk will involve flexing an introverted style, but never to the point of inauthenticity. Over time, expressing a genuine interest in other people will im- prove approachability and cre- ate comfortable connections in workplace. Use energy wisely: is is im- portant for strategic interactions requiring extroverted behaviours. Introverts who flex outside their comfort zone for important work- place interactions will quickly deplete their energy. It's critical that meetings are scheduled with space in between to re-energize, either through some quiet time or by doing some concentrated work during the day. It's important for introverts to recharge regularly to do their best work. In today's turbulent work envi- ronment, a calm, focused, intro- spective leadership style can be the best choice to create a culture that inspires innovation and per- formance. Research has shown that these leaders are well-suited to an environment with proactive employees. ese leaders listen to their ideas and empower em- ployees to implement creative so- lutions to tough business issues. Leaders who draw out the best efforts of their teams in this way are in the best position to deliver the strongest performance in the long run. Bernadette Smith is vice-president of talent development solutions at the Canadian Management Centre in To- ronto. She can be reached at (416) 847- 6067 or bsmith@cmcoutperform.com. Credit: pathdoc(Shutterstock) Introverts have plenty of personal power but need to strengthen their presence so people take notice. it's recognizing that as HR profes- sionals, we need to think differ- ently about how we respond to the democratization of work by using skills like design thinking that many HR professionals wouldn't have. So we need to think about how can you retool the HR func- tion to be better equipped to deal with the future of work?" ere's been a lot of talk about the growing contingent work- force but not many people are doing it yet, partly because of the behaviour change needed with leaders, said Edgar. "It's hard, people are still think- ing in their silos… it's something we as an HR profession have to take the lead on in driving through the organization. You need to build that burning platform around why doing this is actually the right thing to do because there's more demand from the market of peo- ple who want to work differently… and (how it) generates value by do- ing things in a new way." Foresters has made a couple of forays on deconstructing work and using new talent platforms to bring in freelancers, said Nielsen. But managers can be a challenge. "e talent platforms allow you to hire people literally anywhere in the world for work that you need done, and you do it on assignment. We've done that now with two roles and, in both cases, the lead- ers want to hold on to the talent, so they found other things to fill the time so they could offer a full-time opportunity, more of a traditional role, and in these two situations, the freelancer was willing to do that. But that's not all freelancers and it's not consistent with the di- rection we're moving in." Employment laws work against HR in a way, so restructuring jobs is harder, said Nielsen. "But I know we're working around them. e organizational chart used to have all the boxes and a few dotted lines for people on contract." "Now, we have to come up with colour schemes to show people who are freelancers who aren't really part of the team but who are an extended part of the team when needed. You may also have independent consultants; they just come in different shapes and sizes. e old organizational chart doesn't work." It's not so much that existing jobs have changed that much, but there are all kinds of people doing work that they weren't doing 10 years ago, said Briant, "whether it's gamification or creative design, just mainly driven by technology or the businesses that we're in. So we have a much broader and di- verse group of employees than we did, doing very different work, in a relatively traditional structure." While there's a lot of talk about taking a piecework approach, the typical candidate still wants secu- rity, said Briant. "ey may want lots of flexibil- ity, in different places at different times, and having the time to do this or that, but many of them are looking for the security of really quasi full-time employment, with accommodation, so that's a lot different... We find more people doing that contract work are in- terested in becoming full time." Focus on innovation increasing ROUNDTABLE < pg. 10

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